Here they are, my Certifications...

I'm told that a certificate isn't as impressive as a degree and that may be so to some folks. But if you stop and think about it, I've always found that the person who is able to learn by doing usually does a better job than the person that has learned how to do it but hasn't done it yet.

So, I may not have gone to a fancy school and spent thousands of dollars on all kinds of classes, I'm self-taught from books that I found in the local book stores combined with messing around with fixing and building computers over that last dozen years. But I can fix a busted pute and put a new one together. I can help most folks recover from a bad crash or virus infection. And, I enjoy doing what I do, and that's a lot more important than knowing where to look up which way the red stripe goes on the ribbon cable. Don't you think?

I was very proud of passing the CompTIA A+ exams and just got really excited about continuing. I'd heard about Brainbench and the exams that they were offering from a friend of mine. I'd taken a couple of practice tests at their site before heading in for the first CompTIA exam. After passing the A+ exams, though, I just had to see what else I could do, so off I went. Some of the certificates are for things that are a little bit off topic for being computer related but they still show that I have a brain or two rattling around in my head.

I hope to continue taking exams as time and money permit, although they do offer free exams, and newly released exams are free for a limited time.. so I like to swing by to see what's new. The free exams don't include the paper certificates, but then I'm running out of space to display them anyway! hehehehe

In 2005 they started a new deal, they call it Benchgames. It's an international event to see which country scores the best, kinda neat 'battling' for your country AND a great way to increase certs without paying an arm and a leg.

That's how I got to branch out and start working on certifications in other areas that I've been working on over the years, sales and office stuff and, in the last few years, health related stuff as I've become more involved with health issues pertaining to thyroid and adrenal disorders.

I'll admit that I do get a kick out of telling someone that I'm now A+ certified!

Not to mention the look in their eyes when I go down the list of additional certifications I hold.

You can check out Brainbench if you're looking for a place to get certification exams or if you've been looking for a way of qualifying employees.

I think I did pretty well this year. I was able to score at master level on four of the exams this year. Not bad.

In addition to that, this year, for the first since the BenchGames have started, I was also the highest scorer on one of the exams. Of all things it was for something that I never really actually studied for, but, well, I'll take it anyway!

This year I was the top scorer during the BenchGames for Food Handling Safety (U.S). It earned me a prize. I got a one year subscription to BrainBench which entitles me to free exams for the whole year!!

The BenchGames had not yet been announced by the end if May so I decided to go ahead with my exams anyway. The subscription I won during last year's games was due to expire on June 15th, I was giving my self only 2 weeks to get the exams in for free and to get paper certificates this year. I got a few more done then I planned this year, in part to take advantage of the opportunity to get the actual paper certs. The BenchGames make the exams free but don't include free paper certs. One day I'll hang them all.

So, for this year, I was able to complete 35 exams, passing all 35, with six of them at Master Level. I was pretty pleased with that. I'm still hoping they hold the games this year.. the international competition is kinda fun.. and, well, maybe I'll win again this year?